Protector for rubber tires.



Patented Dec. 30, I902.

No; 7l7,263.

H. R. PALMER. PROTECTOR FOR RUBBER TIR {Applicati E8. on filed Aug. 27, 1901. Renewed June 6, 1902.)

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES HERBERT R.-PALMER, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO OMAR STOPPEL, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

vPROTECTOR FOR RUBBER TIREQSJ ,MLM L F SEECIEICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 717,263, dated December 30, 1902.

Application filed August 2'7, 1901. Renewed June 6, 1902. flerial No. 110,510. (No model.)

To all whom, it mag concern.-

, Be itknown that I,- HERBERT R. PALMER, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Ouyahoga and State of 5 Ohio, have invented a certain newand useful Improvementin Protection for Rubber Tires, of which the following is a full,clear,and exact description,'reference being had totheaccompanying drawings.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple and efficient protective covering for the rubber tires of vehicles and primarily for the pneumatic tires of automobiles. l have two purposes in view, first, to reduce the contin ual wear of the tire fromits ordinary abrasion,and,second,to eliminatepuncturingofit.

The depreciatingin an automobile-tirefrom its ordinary wear is a very great item of expense, amounting frequently to more than the cost of the fuel for running the vehicle and being sometimes as high in a single season as ten or fifteen per cent. of the original cost of the vehicle. The depreciation from punctures is not so great, for the tires as now constructed are very thick on their tread. Nevertheless, pieces of metal or glass are frequently encountered which give a sufficient gash to the tire to puncture it. Now in overcoming these difficulties of continual wear and occasional puncturing I have invented a covering consisting of a series of individual metal plates carried by a suitable flexible backing and located close together, but not overlapping. These plates are individually small and are placed in staggered position, the result being that they receiveall the wear from abrasion by the road without interfering with the flexibility of the tire, and although there are between the platesspaces of rubber not accurately covered these spaces, owing to the staggering of the plates, are of such zigzag form that it is impossible for any large piece of metal or glass to come in contact with the rubber, and anything which is small enough to project between the plates will not materially injure the tire.

I am aware that it has been proposed heretofore to protect tires by metal overlapping scales held about them; but such overlapping 5o scales are not efficient, because theyinterfere with the flexibility of the tire. The upper portion of the tire is always substantially circular in cross-section, owing to the interior air-pressure, while the lower portion is very much flattened by supporting the weight, and thus there is a continuous bending in and out of the tread of the tire. This bending causes any overlapping scales to continually wear the tire and to become themselves so displaced that they may badly rupture it.

My invention consists, broadly, of nonoverlapping hard plates carried by a flexible backing and more particularly of such plates placed in a staggered position. I find that by making the plates in the form of hexagons they may substantially abut without overlapping, and this is the preferable shape for these plates. Finally, I find that the plates maybe carried by the flexible backing most simply by having the plates the heads of rivets the shanks of which are upset on the inner side of the flexible backing, and myinvention includes such an embodiment.

The preferred form of my invention is clearly illustrated in the drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a section of a pneumatic automobile-tire having my protecting-covering. Fig. 2 is a plan of a portion of such covering, some of the rivets being sectional through their shanks. Fig. 3 is an enlarged section through the covering. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the rivet preferably employed, the shank being partly broken away.

Referring to the drawings by letters, A represents an ordinary pneumatic automobile-tire, and B (shown in dotted lines) the vehicle-rim. The tire is shown as held to the rim by bolts 0, carried by the tire and extending through the rim. This is shown as simply illustrative, and any suitable form of tire may be associated with my invention.

Drepresents the flexible backing of my protecting-covering, which is preferably an outer tube of canvas faced with rubber. It may be slitted along the innermost periphery and laced to the outer tube or otherwise held in place.

The metal plates are indicated by E. As shown, they are regular hexagons, nearly, but not quite, abutting. They have shanks e, which extend through the fabric and are upset on the inner surface thereof, as at e. The shank is preferably tubular, so that it may be easily upset and so that on the inner side the upset portion will extend a considerable distance over the fabric, preventing any ripping thereof or jerking of the rivet loose from the fabric and doing away with the necessity of a Washer.

It will be seen that at no point on such a protected tire could a long edge of metal, as the edge of a hoop, enter the tire, the longest continuous straight line of unprotected covering being substantially equal to one of the sides of the hexagon head of the rivets. At the same time these rivets do not in the least interfere with the flexibility of the tire or the cover. The upset shank is smooth enough on the inner side to do no harm to the tire, and all wear is transferred from the surface of the tire to that of the metal plates.

Having described my invention, I claim 1. A protecting-covering for a vehicle-tire consisting of a flexible backing carrying rivets whose heads are on the outer side of the backing and are in staggered position and nearly abut but do not overlap, and whose shanks extend through the backing and are upset on the inner side thereof, substantially as described.

2. A protecting-covering for a vehicle-tire consisting of a flexible backing carrying a series of rivets whose heads are on the outer side of the backing and consist of plates bounded by straight lines, the plates being staggered in position but having their edges nearly abutting but not overlapping, substantially as described.

3. A protecting-covering for a vehicle-tire consisting of a flexible backing carrying numerous rivets Whose heads are on the outer side of the backing and consist of plates and Whose shanks are tubular and are upset on the inner side of the backing, substantially as described.

4. A protecting-covering for a vehicle-tire consisting of an outer tube of fabric carrying numerous rivets the heads of which are on the outer side of the fabric tube, the shanks of which are upset on the inner side thereof, the rivets being'placed in staggered position and the heads nearly abutting at their edges but not overlapping, substantially as described.

5. A protecting-covering for a vehicle-tire consisting of a flexible backing carrying numerous rivets whose heads are regular hexagons and whose shanks are tubular the rivets being placed in staggered position with the heads on the outer side of the backing nearly abutting but not overlapping and the shanks being upset on the inner side of the backing, substantially as described.

6. The combination with a pneumatic vehic'le-tire of a protecting-covering therefor consisting of an outer tube slitted along its inner periphery and adapted to extend over the same, said outer tube carrying metal rivets Whose heads are on the outer side of the outer tube and whose shanks are upset on the inner side thereof, said rivets being placed in staggered position and the heads nearly abutting but not overlapping, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HERBERT R. PALMER.

Witnesses:

E. L. THURSTON, E. B. GILCHRIST. 

